[ OPEN : IN OUR BEDROOM AFTER THE WAR. ]

[vaikartana]

Who: Karna (vaikartana), OTA.
When: Anytime during the first few days of the month!
Where: All around; refer to headers for location.
What: New arrivals and exploration— a demigod is lost on a space station, help him out.
Warnings: None for now, will add as necessary!



A. INGRESS MEMORIAL - IT'S US, YES, WE'RE BACK AGAIN.

[ The first few hours that Karna spends in Avagi blend into one continuous day of idle exploration. There's something about being lost in space that feels like a logical progression of events in his mind, like an epilogue tacked on to the end of a book that he'd been ready to put down. Open-ended and trite, yes, but necessary.

He wanders the halls like a living anachronism, gold-plated and red-caped. Occasionally, he traces his hand along the outline of a wall or the corner of a turn, blue eyes fixed on a certain point with needless intensity before the sharpness of his scrutiny focuses back on the trajectory of his path. Always with purpose, but never with much direction.

The only time he seems to relax somewhat is in the quiet, open space of the Ingress Memorial, where he's decided to perch and rest for the time being. He's taking inventory on the very edge of the half-circle that forms the seating area, inspecting a spear that seems far too unwieldy for a man of Karna's stature to hold.

(Depending on how long you're watching, the weapon in question might disappear into thin air following a satisfied hm. What the heck, right??? Is this guy a magician????????? Feel free to ask him, he won't bite.) ]


B. HALL OF MUSIC - HERE TO SEE YOU THROUGH.

[ Ah. In his inspection of some of the alien instruments, he seems to have inadvertently turned one of them on to autoplay... or some sort of equivalent of it. It sounds something like this, but on a loop after every 8 seconds.

Uh.

Mildly perplexed, Karna is just... standing there, pressing a few buttons that only manages to add a smooth synth background to the screaming duck noises. What the heck... he didn't ask for this. ]

I see.

This is what people must mean when they refer to technology being a bane.

[ karna just try to stop it jfc ]



C. LIBRARY - 'TIL THE DAYS END.

[ The archives in the library are impressive, but arcane. There's nothing to recognize among the rows of publications that line the shelves, no familiar epics to give some semblance of reality to an already-confusing situation.

Maybe this is why he feels so thin here; he doubts that aliens have knowledge of the Mahabharata, after all.

But that's a personal aside, and he sees no reason to dwell on the obscurity of his existence in space. Instead, he thumbs through the pages of an alien mystery novel until he gets tired of it (he's never been much of a scholar), and meanders through the labyrinth of shelves to bump right into someone else as he's rounding the corner. ]

My apologies. [ He says quietly, evenly, before noticing that the impact of their collision's causing a nearby ladder to teeter on its uneven legs. ] —Step aside.

[ A quick grab-and-pull later, Karna's maneuvered them both out of the way of that falling obstacle. CLOSE CALL THERE BUDDY.... ] ...Are you alright?

Comments

D because I'm terrible to him, lbr

[gerechtigkeit]

[The library is one place Siegfried visits often, despite the lack of really anything that resembles the Nibelungenlied. A part of him wonders if things will eventually change or possibly grow- new places had arrived and disappeared without warning, so it's a hope of his that perhaps familiar works might show up to give him some reprieve.

It isn't that he's homesick- he's simply wanting something familiar to find for himself, in a way.

Which is why he's in there as Karna explores the shelves, face in a book and trying to see if anything in this book sounds anything remotely close to the legends back home. He doesn't even bother looking at anyone else who has arrived- most of the time, they don't bother him and he doesn't really bother them, unless they ask him for something. Siegfried shuffles through the pages and frowns, obviously not finding anything close to the stories he's familiar with, before he puts the book down on a pile of other stacked books by his feet and grabs another one from the nearby shelf. He's been at this for a while, now.

It goes on like this for a moment or so before he exhales, looking away from his research to notice someone's passed by- and said someone has a mass of white hair that looks uncannily familiar to him. He blinks, double-taking for a second before curiosity demands he investigate further, the book in his hand forgotten.

....................................Ah. He might have also forgotten about the stacks by his feet.

Which means he's stumbling forward and out of the aisle he was in and nearly faceplanting into a chair just behind Karna. A hand tries to reach for something to grab to steady himself, and instead pulls at the edge of a table, toppling another stack of books to his sides and just making a mess with a fluttering of pages and bookmarks crumbling to the floor. He rolls instinctively on his back and lays there, sprawled like an idiot and dazed at what just happened. When he comes to, suddenly he remembers someone else is still in the library and probably heard the whole commotion.

So, uh. Here lies Siegfried, rank E in luck and absolutely contemplating everything about his life in this moment. Everything is terrible and it's all the Rheingold's fault.]

oh my god.... RIP siegfried

[vaikartana]

[ Here's living proof that time is malleable. The 10 seconds that it takes for Siegfried to lay waste to this corner of the library simultaneously happens within the span of an eternity and the beat of a blink— long enough that it takes Karna a moment to digest the comings and goings, fast enough that reflex is what pulls Karna away from the carnage of books and papers with a deft backwards step.

There's no salve to put on injured pride, and unfortunately, Karna isn't offering any. Still as a frozen lake, he tips his head to the side and evaluates the state of the man on the ground with deafening equanimity.

(a slow seep of nostalgia rises from the pit of his stomach; the distant cousin of déjà vu, just strong enough that it makes the fine hairs on the nape of his neck bristle.) ]

...That was quite a fall. It seems you don't do anything by halves.

[ When he finally speaks, it's with a measure of familiarity that he can't place. Maybe it's because he senses that he's addressing another Servant, or maybe it's for completely different reasons that are too obscure to parse at the moment.

Either way, Karna has no qualms with stepping over a pile of fallen novels to approach his fellow comrade in bad luck. Palm upturned, he offers his help with open-ended fairness. A quiet 'take it or leave it, it's fine either way.' ]

B, he never asked for this either

[deus_machina]

[Adam's been exploring the past few days and while he's not a huge music buff, he is very curious what passes for music on a space ship in the future. He thinks he's come to terms with his situation but he really, really has not.

But focusing on some small problems helps. That's why instead of leaving the person to his fate, Adam makes it his business to come over to the horrifying sound of a thousand dying water fowl. Adam watches the other poke at the machine he hears that comment about technology.]

Tell me about it.

[His voice is rough and deep. Adam moves to stand abreast of the other and inspects it. He starts pushing a few buttons too, his metal fingers clicking with each press, as if he knows any better how to turn it off.]

What have you done...

this friendship is going to be amazing

[gerechtigkeit]

[Karna receives a sigh for his words, at first.]

...I noticed.

[This coming from the man who is currently on the floor and putting his face in his hands for no other reason than potential embarrassment. It's not said rudely, but more as a resigned agreement. That, of course, immediately disappears as Siegfried pauses, lifting his hands to blink at the ceiling above him.

He knows that voice.

Karna comes into his sight a moment later, and Siegfried takes the hand offered wordlessly. The mess and the books are all forgotten as he spends a moment staring back at the other, crossing his arms quietly and headtilting. After a silent study of Karna, Siegfried speaks.]

It is you.

[Which begs the question as to how exactly Karna got here, considering the Ingress is... well. Not exactly in working shape. There's a bit of a frown as he puzzles the question over.]

When did you arrive?

[Christ on a cracker, Siegfried, maybe work on introductions first??????]

adam!!! sorry for stealing his tagline.......

[vaikartana]

[ Over the din of several hundred ducks burning in hell: ]

I acted beyond my means. [ Calmly, without self-deprecation. Just a statement of fact, while the instrument-machine hybrid screams bloody murder at him. ] I believe my actions are what my former Master would have called...

[ He pauses in contemplation, hand drawing up to tap long fingers along his chin. ]

..."Something as futile as someone's grandpa trying to use a smartphone for the first time."

[ Satisfied with his phrasing, Karna taps at the device again. The screaming ebbs, and turns into the sound of bleating sheep (or something along those lines). ] Hm.

[vaikartana]

[ Communication issues: the thread. Karna can tell, even when he's busying himself with looping his fingers around Siegfried's wrist to tug him up and away from the corpse pile of books, that a lot of assumptions are being made here. Namely, that they're meant to know each other somehow.

To some extent, it makes sense. Being what they are, it stands to reason that some fragment of his soul may have met this man somewhere— in all the infinite possibilities of their lives post-death, this so-called stranger could have been an enemy, a rival, a comrade. That would account for the recognition that he's coming to terms with, at any rate.

Another tip of his head, and Karna finally begins stringing his words together. Lord help him. ]

Only three days prior to this.

[ Three whole days of ghosting... incredible. He says so matter-of-factly, and appends his answer with another bluntly-stated comment. ]

Before we continue— [ be gentle, karna... ] —there's one thing to clarify.



Have we met?

[ How Not To Make Friends 101 ]

[warandpeace]

[He's still been reading, as if that'll provide him with any helpful answers. So far, there's little to go off of. He's assuming that the scientists got to take much of their research with them, because there is little of their theoretical and observational discoveries here. There's just piles of unhelpful texts.]

[Yet he persists, devoting a couple of hours every day to loosely reading through a few books, skimming in hopes something interesting will come up, and along the way he's discovered some interesting likely fictitious works. As much as fiction means anything for them anymore.]

[Especially when one considers a man from an old epic.]

[Like something out of a ridiculous young adult drama Kaz's introduction to Karna is turning a corner and finding a heaping pile of books falling out of his hands and into the floor, leaving him standing there holding two volumes (a book with geometric designs on the cover and another with a bland embossed lettering) in each hand, staring from his new mess and back up to... a very extravagantly dressed person.]

[He is never going to get used to that. No matter how many Nyxes and Dorians he meets.]

It's fine.

[vaikartana]

[ Karna is decidedly anachronistic in his surroundings, to be sure: even despite the absence of his most eye-catching armor, he's still a Where's-Waldo of accessories and embellishments, a one-man Halloween parade.

That said, Karna carries himself with ease. His thin frame bends easily to pick up the fallen array of books, and he stacks the thick hardcovers on the crook of his elbow with surprisingly little difficulty. ]

Be that as it may, forgive me. It's a mistake I won't repeat.

[ Earnest, but far from self-effacing. Karna offers the books back to Kaz. ]

[warandpeace]

[If he could name all the times he's said that. Or wanted to hear it. Considering how the context was always so much more severe...]

[It's endearing, in its way.]

Glad you have enough respect for knowledge that you'd repent for knocking down some books. [He accepts the offer, piling them more carefully in his hands.] Don't worry about it. Are you looking for something? You look new.

[He can't say definitively. After all, the idea of more people showing up despite a dismantled Ingress is confusing enough. He has nothing near the technological or theoretical knowhow to reason that one out. Plus, who says someone's appearance can't change so drastically?]

[vaikartana]

[ If his appearance is an anomaly, Karna has no knowledge of the how-s and why-s. This summoning— if it could even be called that, considering that it follows none of the conventional rules— hasn't endowed him with the sort of omnipotent knowledge of time and space that a usual summoning would grant him. All he knows is that he's here, and the purpose for his appearance is yet to be disclosed.

All in due time. He's in no rush; he's sure that another version of him has already carried out his duty to the letter. ]

You are correct in assuming that this is new terrain for me. However... I can't say that I was looking for anything in particular.

[ He scans his gaze across the surrounding shelves, arms folding across the exposed segment of his bone-white skin. ]

It would be more accurate to say that I was looking for something that would be familiar to me. A relic of my own world, as it were. Call it sentiment.

[warandpeace]

What time? Universes might become an issue here, as well. Since we're not all from the same one. I keep being impressed by the differences found in our histories. Subtle or extreme. It's hard to say what secret past we might have missed, or what future we could have made for ourselves.

[Poetic blathering that, in short, means that he's at least interested in helping.]

[In the meantime he carries his stack of books over to the table. He arranges them in a new order there: The ones he absolutely intends to read through and the ones that seem less important and require less of an investment.]

Tell me more. [Kaz says as he goes through the motions.] My name's Kazuhira Miller, by the way.

it made me lol I couldn't resist tagging

[deus_machina]

[In his time it was his grandparents using smartphones but he understands the analogy nonetheless. He frowns heavily and folds his arms over his chest while the noises change from ducks to sheep. He preferred the ducks, really.

Adam unfolds his right arm and makes a motion with one hand towards the kid.]

Stop touching it.

[Probably sounding a lot more like a dad that he would have thought himself capable of. Adam rests his left hand on his hip and leans down towards the device and starts tapping a few of the buttons. The sheep sounds distort into something from a horror movie and become low-pitched. It's much worse.]

[gerechtigkeit]

[Truthfully it didn't even occur to him that Karna might be from another War, or even possibly another time. After essentially being here with no other Servants around, seeing a familiar face automatically lead him to assume that they were from the Greater Grail War.

He listens to the other talk about being here for three days, and gives him a startled look. How had he not noticed him? It's almost boggling.

And then, Karna asks for a clarification- and asks if they've met.

For a very, very long moment, Siegfried only stares back at him with an incredulous look, completely confused and absolutely unsure as to what to say. Then, it dawns on him, and he simply closes his eyes and sighs, unable to stop himself from smiling at the irony.]

...I see.

[So, starting from square one, then. A part of him can't help but be disappointed. Still, this is better than nothing.]

We have, at least in the War I was summoned to. Our fight was the first battle of the Greater Grail War. [Siegfried gestures openly.] We were an even match, though I'm sure had we not stopped, we would have gladly fought to the death. [There's a deep kind of respect in his eyes at that, one he doesn't often hold for his opponents. Karna actually made him fear for his life- something he hasn't had to do in centuries.] My Master wasn't exactly... [He fumbles for the word.] familiar with how a Servant battle goes.

[A pause, and he tilts his head and exhales.] It's Siegfried, by the way. [Not Saber, as he tells everyone else- his real name.] We gave each other our names on the eve of our battle.

[It only seems right to give his name in return for someone he respects, and knows the name of in return.]

[vaikartana]

[ After a beat of hesitation, Karna follows. ]

Kazuhira Miller. [ He repeats, and something about his expression warms; the cadence of the name reminds him of his young and foolish Master, half-Japanese and half-German. 'Jinako Carigiri'. ] I see.

—I have no difficulty accepting the nature of dimensional discrepancies. This is nothing new to me. [ Hovering by the table, he runs his fingers along its smooth edge. ] However... Kazuhira Miller. I have nothing to repay you for your willingness to aid a stranger, save for my name.

[ The statement is a semi-warning, a half-apology— it's easy to tell by how he cants his head that Karna is entirely serious about everything that comes out of his mouth. ]

It amounts to nothing, but you may have it. I am Karna. [ He says 'nothing', but to divulge his name means to make himself vulnerable. It's not something that should be done so lightly, but Karna will be Karna. ] Feel free to refer to me as 'Laun—'...

...no, 'Lancer', if you wish.

[vaikartana]

[ Karna is more of a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, technically; for being a couple thousand years old, he fancies that he's not doing too poorly with all this tech.

With that said, Adam's paternal warning results in quiet compliance. He shifts to the side and allows his new companion to take a look at... whatever this synth-trombone-modulator hybrid instrument is, Karna has no earthly idea.

When it starts to make Freddy Krueger noises, that's when he finally opens his mouth again. ]

...It seems I've caused trouble for you. [ SORRY ADAM???? ] Perhaps there's a way to 'unplug' it. [ Is it wireless???? Whatever, Karna is going to crouch and feel around for an extension cord. ]

[vaikartana]

[ Karna doesn't need to draw on his powers of discernment to analyze this reaction: the world-weary dejection is clear on Siegfried's face. ]

...I see. [ He only speaks when his fellow Servant stops, brows furrowed in mild concentration. ] Siegfried, the Dragonslayer. Hero of the Nibelungenlied, champion to all.

Don't misunderstand me, Siegfried— I don't recall our meeting, but my soul recognizes a worthy adversary.

[ For a half-second, remorse plays at the edge of his features. Sincerity comes easily to Karna; he doesn't see his honesty as discarding his pride, and he has no qualms with expressing his regret to someone who, in his own words, described their duel as "even". Karna has no reason to doubt that evaluation, given that he'd be able to tell if Siegfried were lying or resorting to idle bluster.

His posture straightens incrementally. A silent inhale, and he faces Siegfried again with unclouded conviction. ]

You may already know my name, but accept it again as recompense, warrior of humility. [ This is Important to him, after all. ] I am Karna, smiled on by fate to face you once more.

[warandpeace]

[He almost tells him that he doesn't need to say so much of his name, he's allowed to pick a part of it, but the formality and following comments distract him. So "Kazuhira Miller" he is for the moment, and brought upon himself.]

It's no problem. I'd rather be a resource than a hindrance.

[He likes to be helpful. He likes to be helpful and charge for it, more often than not, but this is acceptable.]

Karna. [He repeats the name, memorizing it with all the grace of an over-intelligent bird.] Like the King of Anga? Is Lancer a last name or a formal title?

[gerechtigkeit]

[He isn't surprised by Karna's first statement, an understanding of who he is and his story, though Siegfried shakes his head a little at the title, easing himself just a little.]

I'm no champion, just myself.

[He doesn't consider his life to be as great as the stories say he is. It could be considered humble, but the reality is his lack of self-confidence in himself in general. Acting the part of a hero isn't difficult- but believing in himself is.

But it's the next statement that causes him to blink.

I don't recall our meeting, but my soul recognizes a worthy adversary.

He wasn't expecting to hear anything remotely similar, but the admittance of something like that is important, and he stills at it. Karna may not recognize him, but his soul does- whether or not they truly are from the same War or not, there is a sense of familiarity between them, and one that is perhaps stronger than Siegfried first imagined.

But it's not only familiarity- it's an accepted sense of respect between them both, and that is something he knows now that has not changed. Karna's split-second look of remorse confirms it. Suddenly, he's thankful Karna's here, even if they need to start over in some ways.]

You- [He flusters a little, hearing the other speak. You give me too much credit, he wants to say, but he can't help but grin slightly.] Facing each other can wait for now, considering we've only been here for about a month. What do you know so far?

[About Avagi, about their situation, about how other people need their help. If there was ever a chance to give, it would be now, and he of all people would know.]

[vaikartana]

[ How refreshing. Siegfried is the opposite of everything that Karna'd experienced on Moon Cell, a stark contrast to the Servants that he encountered in that sunset school building where all the days blurred into one. It stirs that feeling of familiarity again, something dormant in the millions of pages of his soul's history; he doesn't have to know the details to understand that he values it.

Siegfried's grin is reciprocated with the slightest gentling of Karna's iron-plated calm, lips upturned just a fraction in something that approaches satisfaction. As always, despite the reality of his situation, he considers himself as fortunate as a man like him can be; respect can always be found in the most unlikely places.

Speaking of where they are right now, though......... ]

Truthfully speaking— not much.

[ He knows they're in space, he knows this isn't a War, and he knows that he's Masterless. Those are his chief concerns, but he's accepted them. ]

Enough to understand, however, that our usual constraints don't hold. [ His gaze intensifies just barely, in a silent request for corroboration. ] The only matter at hand seems to be to survive.

[vaikartana]

King...? [ Ah. ] ...Hm, I'll never get used to that word. [ More to himself, than anything else.

After he comes to terms with it, though: ] Yes. Karna, son of Surya. 'Lancer' is merely a title given to me through circumstance.

At any rate, my name is a trivial affair. I have a more pressing question I need answered.

[warandpeace]

Wait, are you-?

[Kaz is in the process of standing up straighter, squinting from behind his dark lenses before he's told there's something more important than titles and names. Which is good to hear, in a way, he admires a person willing to cut to what they want.]

[Yet now he's curious and his inner child is standing on its tiptoes desperately trying to look in the window again.]

Maybe later. What are you looking for?

[He curses himself for the brief thought of, 'You can't be that Karna, you don't look the part.' What right of all people would he have to think that?]

[vaikartana]

[ Karna's perceptiveness dictates that he catches the bemusement, and he smiles privately to himself on the side; a tip of his head, a light exhale. It's a distinctly familiar reaction that he's dealt with since birth, and he understands it to be a reasonable one.

Accordingly, he doesn't confirm or deny his divinity. He moves on. ]

Nothing that would be found in these books.

[ His earpiece sways gently against his jaw, bracketing pale skin. ] My question is this: what is our objective?

[warandpeace]

It seems like in the short term, it's creating some stability.

Our lives have been in flux, recently. We've lost our homes, been treated as threats, prisoners, had our anger exploited.

This place has the means to provide us with sustenance and a place to regroup and recuperate. Beyond that, I presume that our focus will be supporting whatever group of people will be working on developing an exit strategy.

[He loosely gestures at the books.]

What bothers me, is that where everyone went is still a mystery. Figuring that out... that's my objective. [Maybe they're supposed to figure out their own. Not that he's not helping out, but he has his focus.] Having trouble coming up with something to do?

[gerechtigkeit]

[There's something earnest in the way they're speaking with each other- in the War, Siegfried had been denied any chance to talk at all, something he chose not to argue against and eventually regretted doing so. But it was in his battle with Karna that he spoke only once, but it was open and honest, a rare time that anyone had ever heard him speak. He sincerely desired to fight Karna once more, in the future.

So, yes, it could have been fate that brought them both here. Fate is an odd thing, and one that Siegfried honestly doesn't try to think about anymore. Tragedy will always follow after him, and he's come to simply take it for what it is. There is no point in fighting against something he cannot fix.

When Karna looks back to him for what he thinks might be a pleased look, and then to confirm his statement, Siegfried nods.]

They don't. Not here, at least. [Karna is correct that they're stranded in space, both Masterless, and outside of a War. The thought of two Servants even doing things outside of a War would certainly boggle many magi, but that's not something they have to worry about here.] As far as survival goes, you'd be right in that as well. But this place, Avagi— [He jerks his head to the side, indicating the place as a whole.] used to be a lot more than what it is now.

[There's a sigh, and Siegfried crosses his arms. This is going to be a bit of a story.] I don't know everything, but before Avagi, this place was larger. It was actually two whole planets, named Thisavrou. Their residents, the Savrii, apparently were an advanced civilization that had taken in others here, after they were stranded on a crashed ship called the Moira. It had grabbed people from different realms and times with a device called the Ingress. No one knew how to stop it, or how to send people home, they simply traveled in the hopes to find a place that did know of how to fix it- and that ended with the ship crashing.

The survivors of the crash had been on Thisavrou for a while, before this mess started. I'm told that there were many events that caused a clear divide between residents and non-residents of the planet, and it only became worse when I arrived. [He exhales, looking unamused.] All those brought in by the Ingress, both on the Moira and the one on Thisavrou, were singled out, and then we were placed in a region that made us powerless and compliant if we tried any aggression towards our captors. We spent a month in that region- two weeks in a mental cage, believing we were stranded in a location with little to survive on, and then another two weeks without much to do except wait for the Savrii's judgement upon us for "our actions."

[From his tone, it's highly evident of what he thinks about that whole escapade. They took innocents and treated them like garbage, even the ones who had nothing to do with prior events.]

We escaped eventually with the help of a creature named Mother, who wanted our help to find her child. In exchange, she would protect us from the intermediaries- those who kept us from being "violent" and would make anyone who approached them in anger suddenly become calm and have no desire to do anything but be calm and pleasant. [A moment passes and he frowns.] We didn't have much of a choice, so we agreed. The entire group broke out as a result, and we became fugitives, hunted for being labeled as dangerous and unstable. No one trusted us, and it was hard to trust even civilians then.

Of course, Mother had wanted to use us all along. [He gestures with one palm up at this, though it's clear he's not happy with how everything ended.] When a group took her inside the Ingress to find her child, she betrayed them and did something to the Ingress to essentially overload it. As a result, the planets began to fall apart. We only managed to escape by being called to flashes of light, and we ended up here. It was after searching through any records that we could find that we learned that Avagi is Thisavrou, but now 300 years in the future.

[Siegfried pauses, and shakes his head.] I won't lie to you, Karna. It's been difficult. We watched two worlds die in front of our eyes before we were whisked away to here. Some people have said there was a voice that spoke to them, that told them there was still a chance to save this place, but we haven't found it. [A beat.] Not yet, at least.

[Surviving and turning this place into something a bit more livable has been a bigger priority.]

[deus_machina]

[He caused this trouble himself; he didn't have to get involved but he was compelled to anyway and now he's here with this thing groaning at him and he's pretty sure he'll have a headache in a few minutes. But no, Adam isn't blaming this kid (if he only knew how old this 'kid' was).

Adam tries pressing a few buttons at the same time as Karna looks for a plug. The sound warms to very high-pitched and fast and then evens back out into the original wailing-duck sounds.]

Fuck me. [Muttered under his breath. At least it's better than it had been before he meddled with it.]

See anything?